B+ motorhomes

[Daniel_C_]

I just bought a Trail Lite B+ 211s with 8.1 Chevy
engine. This is my fifth motorhome (others range
from an old 20' Vagabond, and three Winnegagos, from 19 to 32'. This vehicle is fantastic. I am
using it as a mobile office (and sneaking in a fun
journey from time to time). It gets about 9.5mpg
and I believe I could pull a bus behind it if I wanted! I paid low $40's which is about what I had expected to pay for a five or six year old Chinook with a nicer interior, but fewer features
(slide). I am delighted thus far.

[burlmart]

Have we had any opinions on the sleek new B+ by Liesure Vans at the following website.

http://www.leisurevans.com/photoalbum_freedomIILibero.html

Looks real smooth. I wonder if it is lighter than a similar length Trail Lite, Phoenix Cruiser, Gulfstream, or other existing B+ models.

Any experience with its gas mileage?

[happyjack2]

The 12 volt system was dead on our first day trip to the bay so I figured it was the coach battery. I had already pulled it and got a free exchange from wally world when I found the un-attached ground wires. There was a 10 or 12 gauge bare copper and two white wires. All had lugs and appear to come down from the converter area. I used a 1/4-20 bolt and re-fastened the wires. Installed the battery and have 12 volts. I haven't powered up the Gen yet as it has been pouring the rain down since Saturday evening.

[Gene_in_NE]

happyjack2 wrote:
I was under Happyjack2 routing wiring for a new electronic toy and I found three ground wires that were broken free of their grounding point. The self tapping sheet metal screw holding the the lug ends had broken off where it was drilled into the frame. Just aft of the leaf spring mount above the tail pipe. If it was loose last year that may have been causing my intermittent problem with trying to start the generator from inside.

Okay, what was this new electronic toy?

I've been wondering what we are going to do for television, not that we watch it that much.

I'll have to check out my unit (when we get it out of storage) for those grounding wires and try and figure out what they may be for - did you decide what they were for?

TonyTiger - Glad everything worked out for you - one for all of us to file away.

[TonyTiger]

UPDATE
The replacement of the AC Heater element solved the problem. I ran days on propane gas and evenings on shoreside AC with no break in cooling. Thanks to everyone for their suggestions. Everything seems back to normal in the coach and we are ready to continue the season.

[happyjack2]

I was under Happyjack2 routing wiring for a new electronic toy and I found three ground wires that were broken free of their grounding point. The self tapping sheet metal screw holding the the lug ends had broken off where it was drilled into the frame. Just aft of the leaf spring mount above the tail pipe. If it was loose last year that may have been causing my intermittent problem with trying to start the generator from inside.

[TonyTiger]

Okay, the dealer installed the "Heating Unit" as he referred to it, the service manual calls it the AC Heater. Seemed to be a fairly simple 1 hr and 20 minute process from start to finish. I will give it a full test tomorrow and tomorrow night as we get ready for the weekend show.

Thanks for all of your help! Giving the dealer a full list of tests and results certainly kept them in line. Total cost of 1)diagnosis day and 2)part plus shipping and 3)install was $184.

[TonyTiger]

Okay Gene, thanks. I had done a search but none fully answered the question. The first link was the closest but I'm not sure it ever was fully answered.

The Dealer thinks it is the Heating element (I think that is what I call the AC heater). I used the service manual (downloaded from Bryant RV) to get that diagnosis along with your feedback. They have ordered the part and it should be in next week. I'll let you know how it works out.
Tony

[Gene_in_NE]

TonyTiger - I should have recommended this first, do a search on this forum for Norcold and GFI problems. Here is one Refrig. Electrical Problem .. and here is another Information on "resetting" Norcold refrigerator . Another informative thread is norcold fridg. . Hope these help. 🙂 Gene

[Gene_in_NE]

TonyTiger - If you are getting a reading on your Ohm meter other than "1", then you have an internal short from one of the hot leads to the ground terminal. The Ohm reading or value would only tell you how good the connection is. You have already discovered the problem.

As I mentioned in my previous post, be sure you are not touching the frame of the fridge (while plugged into AC) while touching any other good connection to ground as the electricity will flow through you.

I would suspect that your fridge works fine when plugged into a non-GFI receptacle, but it is a potentially dangerous unit.

I'm not familiar with the Norcold fridge, but I would start by finding where the power cord connects to the fridge (not plugged in). Using the Ohm meter you should never have a reading between those connections and the frame of the fridge other than a "1" - just like if you are not touching the two prongs of the Ohm meter together. I would then do a close visual inspection to determine how the electricity travels through the unit looking for some contact to the frame of the unit or ground. Somewhere in the circuit you should have a heating coil and I suspect that it has somehow shorted to ground.

I had a similar situation with my water heater. It worked when we got the motorhome, but the next time we tried to use the heater a fuse would blow. Tracing the electrical circuit on the water heater, I found the problem where the wiring connected to what I call the temperature of the water sensor. The sensor had slipped out of place and the sensor was touching the steel tank. Moved it to where it should be and problem solved.

[TonyTiger]

Thanks, Gene. Good to hear from you too!

I put an Ohm meter on the plug from the power board of the refrigerator. Both terminals to the ground plug one at a time. My lowest setting was 100 Ohm so I can't tell exactly what was happening but I would say a reading of 0 to 1 so it was not definitive.
I plugged the refrig AC cord directly into an extension cable and into the barn GFI outlet. The GFI blew as soon as I pushed the refrigerator switch to auto, the "On light" went out. No error flash since it lost power. Strange, I thought the 12 volt might power a message. The barn doesn't have a non GFI outlet so I'll have to wait to get elsewhere to perform that test.
I agree all signs are that the AC heater unit or power board has a short. Has anyone replaced that part themselves? My search here and on google has not found much except a service manual on the Bryantrv.com site.

Tony

[Gene_in_NE]

TonyTiger - Welcome back to this thread. A GFI tripping does not usually mean overcurrent rather it typically means a short (internally to the device) to ground. Having the fridge on auto sets the fridge to automatically switch to gas if no 120V AC power is available or vice versa. Does the GFI trip immediately when the fridge goes to 120V AC? I believe you are saying, the GFI never trips if the fridge is either turned off or set to propane only; is that correct? If that is true, it is the fridge causing the problem and not some other device that might co-incidentally turn on and pull power (i.e. the steps). I would try plugging the fridge into a long extension cord to the barn GFI and see if it trips the circuit just to be sure it is the fridge. I would also try plugging that same long extension cord to the barn in a non-GFI receptacle just to be sure the fridge is not drawing too much current. If the fridge does not trip a non-GFI receptacle it likely will run fine on 120V AC from generator power or shore power that does not have GFI protection. However, if you happen to touch the chassis of the fridge with one hand and a good ground with the other hand you'll feel the tingling or worse - not safe.

You should be able to take an "ohm" meter and after unplugging the fridge from the 120V receptacle get a resistance of something other than "1" between the round pin and either of the flat pins on the power plug of the fridge.

After all of the above, I would suspect you have a simple short in the electric heater on your fridge.

[TonyTiger]

I've known many of you on this list for a long time. I have a MH problem which is general in nature so I thought I'd try it on you first. I'm stumped on this one and don't want to pay the dealer to be stumped at $70 an hour. Four Winds Siesta class C 2005 vintage 5500 miles.

Norcold Refrigerator, two door model N611 works fine when set to propane setting using DC current. If I switch the refrigerator to Auto setting to use AC it blows the GFI where I am plugged in. Tried two different GFI circuits to be sure that circuit wasn't goofy.

Diagnostics I have tried. Tested the 3 prong AC outlet behind the refrig where it plugs in. Two green lights on the tester meaning it is properly wired. No ground problem indicated.

Checked the connectors on the back of the refrigerator that enter the circuit board. All are seated. Removed and reinserted each.

Tried to follow the ground wire it disappears through a caulked hole below the interior horizontal wall behind the refrigerator and above the wheel arch. Reemerges behind the controller panel and enters the wiring harness. No obvious crimp etc.

All other AC appliances seem to work (don't trip the GFI in the barn) this includes microwave, TV, antenna amplifier. I even tried plugging the little AC vacuum into the AC outlets (after testing each with the tester).

History:
Had Kwickee step motor replaced last Fall, no obvious problems under there.
Replaced both house batteries last Fall due to Kwickee step motor problem draining them repeatedly.
Replaced DC Contactor (Isolator solenoid) under the hood which had corroded and was no longer making adequate pass through of power which contributed to the battery replacement issue.
Last thing touched was the DC contactor, went and checked; it is wired correctly (the same) as original and matches the diagram that came with the part.

Any ideas what to check next? Everything else worked this week, I just set the refrig to gas and had no problems while plugged in to shoreline power.

Tony

[rcwaz]

The awning bracket attachment on the roof and the skylight over the shower forms a dam that directs water off the roof at that point. Apparently the screws were not sealed as you both have experienced.

I have used the windshield cover on a class C I had (the '85 I believe). I would think that leaving it on would leave it so dirty I might not want to leave it in the garage while we're traveling. I certainly wouldn't bring it on a trip.
I live near a construction company that does not have a paved lot. Clouds of dust roll over the neighborhood when the trucks cruise through the lot. All of this dust sits on my RVs until the morning dew. I used the gutter across all of my windows on the 5th wheel so I didn't have to wash the windows constantly and it worked exceptionaly well. I even formed it to follow the round corners of the windows. It's a little tricky to install. It's best to let the gutter hang and relax for a week, clean the location with acetone and alcohol, and then get an assist with a heat gun when installing it, especially on the tight radius of a window.

[happyjack2]

We keep the windshield covered all the time with the wrap around cover we purchased at CW last April. Seems to be holding up well after a year in the outdoors. I still have to clean the windshield before we go as moisture gets under the cover but there is no stain from the cab over.

[burlmart]

rcwaz

I think our recently found roof leak was at the front awning bracket screw - caulked it and several spots with dicor rubber roof caulk and it's ok for now.

maybe an exterior windshield cover that people use for sleeping privacy would protect the windshield, though I do not know how these covers hold up to extended UV rays.

we put our rig back under the awning of our off-site storage place for now. may consider an on-site awning in the future.